Hong Kong property agents drum up demand for car parking spaces in Greater Bay Area, tout low investment of US$30,000
- Some brokers are focusing on a niche segment that most investors from Hong Kong can afford to buy easily
- Prices of parking bays in Zhongshan, a city in the Greater Bay Area, have witnessed a spike in recent transactions
Hong Kong’s small property agents have found a new investment avenue that has piqued the interest of investors – car parking spaces in the “Greater Bay Area” for as low as 200,000 yuan (US$30,000).
“We see a lot of Hong Kong investors would like to capitalise on the property boom in the GBA,” said Stephen Sum, an investment consultant at V+ Property, which is focused on the bay area. “In order to grab a bigger share of the lucrative market, we have to look for something unique to attract customers instead of directly competing with large agencies.”
Agents exclusively selling overseas property, including mainland China, are exempt from a licence issued by the Estate Agents Authority, Hong Kong’s industry regulator.
The strategy also allows them to offset the advantages of large agents like Centaline China, which has 1,200 branches and employs 20,000 staff in the Greater Bay Area.
Beijing unveiled the Greater Bay Area blueprint, a grand plan to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities into an economic and innovation powerhouse to rival Silicon Valley and the Tokyo Bay Area on February 18.
“There are residential units, serviced apartments, hotel rooms, office units, shops, and car parking spaces for sale. But Hongkongers do not know from where to or what to buy,” said Sum, who hosts a weekly property investment seminar focused on the bay area, at the company’s office in Lai Chi Kok.
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He noted that prices of parking spaces in Zhongshan have risen significantly in recent transactions.
Prices for a parking space range from 200,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan in Zhongshan, compared to flats that cost around one million yuan.
According to property brokers Lianjia, a parking bay at the Fuyi Zhenyuan development in Zhongshan sold for 130,000 yuan when the project was launched in 2007, but it recently fetched 300,000 yuan.
Except for Shenzhen, Sum said there were no restrictions that prevent non-local residents from trading car parking spaces.
Sum said the “alternative asset class” was fast catching on after it was introduced to investors, adding that the firm had sold more than 100 parking spaces so far.
“In some cases, Hong Kong investors have bought more than 10 parking lots in one go.”
At the seminar, representatives from mainland developer China Vanke were marketing parking bays at the 3,631-unit Vanke Baiyuewan development in Zhongshan for 250,000 yuan each.
Andy Chow, a prospective investor at the seminar, said he was exploring the possibility of investing in a parking space offered by China Vanke.
He noted that overall home prices in the 11 cities covered by the bay area scheme had risen by as much as 35 per cent since 2017.
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“Compared to Hong Kong’s parking space price of HK$2 million to HK$3 million, this looks much more affordable,” said Chow, a salaried employee in his early 30s working for a telecommunications company. “My salary will never catch up with home prices in Hong Kong, but I can earn extra money from my investments instead of just waiting for home prices to decline.”
But not everyone is getting carried away.
Carrie Wong was keen on the asset class, but changed her mind after a property tour organised by V+ Property to Zhuhai last month.
She said that she noticed a lot of illegal parking around the housing projects that they visited.
“The future value of parking lots will hinge on the city government strictly enforcing parking rules,” adding that she needs to watch the investment trend before she decides to invest.
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Meanwhile, one of Hong Kong’s big licensed brokers, says they will not offer the asset class despite its rising investment appeal.
Louis Chan Wing-kit, vice-chairman for Asia-Pacific at Centaline, was categoric, saying the firm will not sell parking spaces as “our expertise is in transaction of apartments, shops and offices”.
